Welcome Back! New Beginnings, New Opportunities

Students come back in the morning, and I feel like it is the first day of school all over again.  There is an excitement that surrounds new beginnings... changes we can make, goals we can set, and new books to recommend!  :)  To me, that is one of the best things about being in education-- all of the "new beginnings."  Whether it is the beginning of the week, the beginning of the month, the new six weeks, or the new year, we are given the opportunity to refresh and improve more than once, and I am thankful for that! 

This week I am looking forward to working with 4th-6th grade students on information literacy.  The students are working on reading informational text and researching various topics.  I will be discussing with them how to evaluate resources and where they can find valid, appropriate information related to their topics.  We will look at good sources and not so good sources, and learn how to tell the difference.

With the younger students, I will be sharing with them previous Caldecott winners in anticipation of the newest medal winner. The Caldecott Medal is awarded each year to the illustrator of the most distinguished picture book from that year.  Students will look at previous winners and analyze why the book was awarded the medal.   Then we will look at books published in 2012 that have the potential to win, and students will attempt to predict this year's winner. 

I will also share Kadir Nelson's I Have a Dream with some of my classes and let them talk about dreams they have for this school year. It will be a wonderful opportunity for goal setting! 

This is a beautifully illustrated book that enhances the famous speech by Dr. Marin Luther King, Jr.  I have been anxious to share this with the students since receiving it awhile back, and I hope that they will enjoy it as much as I did when I read the book.  

New beginnings, new opportunities to connect books and readers.  It is sure to be a wonderful week!  Happy Reading!